Miesha Tate had a simple goal at the start of her UFC on Fox 11 main card bout against Liz Carmouche on Saturday night. "I was just trying not to be a psycho in the fight," she said.
Tate has become one of the main faces of female UFC fighters but had yet to earn a victory in the Octagon heading into Saturday night. In her first UFC fight, Tate lost a great battle to Cat Zingano.
Next, she rematched (they first fought in Strikeforce) her nemesis and UFC champ Ronda Rousey and lost via arm bar once more. Tate believed that she had perhaps spent herself too quickly in prior fights on account of fighting too emotionally.
Against Carmouche, Tate wanted to "be a little bit more calculated," as she said at the UFC on Fox 11 post fight press conference.
That may have resulted in a slow start for Tate, however, as Carmouche got her down early and dominated the first round. Tate rode out the storm and earned the unanimous decision and her first UFC 'W' after three rounds, though, and beat back some demons in the process.
"I was struggling with a mental hurdle. Losing two in a row is really rough. And, starting to think, you know, 'am I cursed?' just going through all those weird questions," she revealed.
"I started off slow. There's a fine line, for me, between thinking and going. And, when I go, that's what happens in the third round. When I'm thinking, that's what happens in the first round. It took me a minute to be like, 'you know what? I've got to go.'"
And, 'go' Tate did. Now with a UFC win under her belt, the former title challenger says she'll face the future with more confidence in herself. "I'm definitely capable of better. Anyone who has ever seen me fight can say, yeah, it's not typical for me to start to slow. I did, this fight. But, I'm over the hurdle now," she said.
"I won the fight. I'm happy. I got my first UFC victory and I think that's going to motivate me more."
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